Situational awareness refers to the degree of accuracy by which one's perception of his current environment mirrors reality. With regard to the operation of an aircraft, situational awareness relates to a pilot's perception of what is happening to the aircraft within the four dimensions of space and time. Situational awareness also relates to the pilot's comprehension of a present situation and a projection of the status of the aircraft into the near future.
During the operation of an aircraft, multiple operational parameters and systems must be monitored simultaneously, including the airspeed, attitude, engines, fuel management, navigation indicators, and weather radar. Many of these operational parameters and systems on the aircraft must be supervised by a pilot reacting to subtle changes in the alignment of needles on gauges or of pictorial displays on screens.
The present invention relates to improved displays of aircraft operation data that increase the situational awareness of a pilot and flight crew. The present application claims new displays or presentations of aircraft data. The displays of the present invention employ commercially available systems that may be used without modification to supply the necessary signals to operate the displays of the present invention. The present invention relates to improved displays of aircraft operation data that increase the situational awareness of a pilot and flight crew. More particularly, the displays of the present invention include a vertical speed indicator (VSI) display.
Traffic alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) is a system for detecting and tracking other aircraft approaching the vicinity of a TCAS-equipped aircraft. By continuous interrogation of the transponders of the approaching aircraft, the TCAS system estimates and updates the flight paths of the approaching aircraft relative to the TCAS-equipped aircraft. Through the projection of the approaching flight paths of other planes relative to the position and path of the TCAS-equipped aircraft, the TCAS system will determine if an approaching aircraft is a possible collision hazard. If a collision hazard exists according to TCAS, the system will issue visual and auditory advisories, also known as resolution advisories, to the crew for appropriate vertical avoidance maneuvers.
The present invention includes the display of “fly-to” commands on a vertical speed indicator during a TCAS traffic or resolution advisory condition. The present invention typically includes a representation of an arc or semicircular depiction of a vertical speed indicator scale. The present invention may also comprise a marker, such as a pointer, or a viewing window having a digital numeric display showing the current vertical speed of the TCAS-equipped aircraft. The display of the present invention may also comprise indices or graduations along the arc or semicircle that are representative of typical analog-type displays. For example, a display of the present invention may have a vertical speed scale showing a continuous range of indices matching the typical markings of analog scales such as 0 (zero), +/−500, +/−1000, +/−1500, +/−2000, +/−2500, +/−3000, +/−4000, +/−5000, and +/−6000 feet per minute. It is also possible for examples of the present invention to arrange said indices in a nonlinear fashion around the scale. Also typical of an example of the present invention is the showing of no-fly segments around the periphery of the VSI scale in a red color, and conversely, fly-to segments may be shown in a green color. In addition, examples of the present invention may include other uses of color, particularly the red color as an indicator of no-fly segments and green at fly-to segments, on elements such as the marker, the digital display or other elements in a viewing window, or on the periphery of the VSI scale. It is also possible for examples of the present invention to include a change in size, in particular an enlargement of the VSI display on a typical viewing device, in order to provide additional visual cues to a flight crew in order to indicate determinations of TCAS or resolution advisory flight conditions for an aircraft.
Examples of the present invention may also include representations of fractional sections of a VSI scale. The fractional section may be shown either on a semicircle, as a fixed arc, or along a portion of an ellipse. The particular portion of a VSI scale shown with an example of the present invention would typically present the current vertical speed of an aircraft on the VSI scale bounded equidistant by the range of the values for vertical speed shown on that portion of the VSI scale. This type of display may be provided by linear or nonlinear distributions of the indices for reading along the VSI scale. Conversely, the VSI scale may by bounded on at least one end by an upper limit, such as −6000 or +6000 feet per minute. To assist the flight crew in the readability of the display of the present invention, on the occasion wherein the actual VSI was at or above an upper (or lower) limit or extreme of the VSI scale, the VSI scale may at least provide an additional indicia marking such as the 0 (zero) mark to provide a frame of reference. It is also possible for an indicator such as the vertical speed marker having a numeric display to show actual vertical speed figures beyond the range of the displayed VSI scale, for example +/−9999 feet per minute.
In addition to the features mentioned above, objects and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent upon a reading of the following description.